


Drowning in Secrets

by Ethereal_Wishes



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 04:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12204048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ethereal_Wishes/pseuds/Ethereal_Wishes
Summary: Carol finally comes clean with Daryl about what happened with Karen and David, but he isn't here to judge her.  Everyone has blood on their hands, and her sins aren't going to change how he feels about her.  It takes place during 5x02.





	Drowning in Secrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CharlotteAshmore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteAshmore/gifts).



Drowning in Secrets

A/AN: Charlotte Ashmore requested a scene do over between Carol and Daryl in 5x02. I'm going to rewrite the scene when they were by the campfire, and have Carol delve more into her emotions about what happened with Karen and David.

Carol sat beside Daryl, perched against a tree trunk, several feet out of earshot from the others. She could hear the faint sounds of conversation emitted by their group, but her mind was elsewhere, laden with burdens of the events from the prior weeks. She could feel the intensity of his gaze settled on her. She clenched her left hand into a fist, attempting to quell her tongue – the urgency to dispel the burdensome truth to him. She wasn't sure why his opinion mattered to her so much, but if anyone in the group did, it was him.

Carol dared a glance at him, inhaling sharply. “I don't want to talk about it, I can't. I just need to forget it.”

Daryl gazed at her momentarily, her eyes exposing the dark secrets within her soul. Carol was carrying a load of them, but nothing she told him would faze him. He'd lived his life carrying damnable secrets – even before the whole world had gone to hell. 

“Alright, but I ain't here to judge ya. We've been through too much together to allow whatever's ripping you apart inside to tear us a part,” Daryl remarked, alleviating some of the tension she was feeling.

“Even if I killed someone? You'd still be able to look at me without being disgusted?” Carol asked, her heart beating tumultuously.

Daryl shrugged. “There ain't a person here who doesn't have blood on their hands, I presume. I'm sure you had your reasons, whatever they were.”

Carol nodded, averting her gaze to the brown earth, and hugging her knees to her chest. “Karen and David - I slew them to protect the group. They weren't going to recover, and I didn't want anyone else to get sick. I couldn't risk anyone else turning and transforming the prison into a mass grave.”

“It was a hard call, but you had to do it. I would've done the same thing. This world we live in isn't black and white anymore. We have to make it. We have to survive, no matter what it takes,” he retorted, pausing when he heard twigs snap and a sudden rustling within the trees. He instinctively grabbed his bow, holding up his fingers, signaling for her to wait. 

“It's nothing,” he dismissed, walking back towards her.

“Thank you for listening and for being so understanding,” she said, rising to her feet. Part of her still longed to tell him about the girls, but she couldn't – not yet. There would be another time, and then perhaps she would be able to tell him everything. 

“Come on, we should head back,” he said, motioning for her to follow him back to the campsite. 

Carol followed suit, the sound of dead leaves crunching beneath her feet, bringing him a sliver of comfort. When she'd left, he thought she might be dead. He was thankful she was still here with him. He wasn't sure what it entailed, but he did know she meant more to him than anyone left in this world.

Daryl knew there was more to her story than she had dispelled, but he wouldn't push her for information. No, he would wait until she voluntarily opened up to him like she had tonight. Eventually, he hoped the day would come when she could trust him with everything. But until then, he would wait – wait until she was ready to rip away another layer of herself and expose more of her raw beauty to him. And to Daryl, there was no one more beautiful than Carol Peletier. 

A/AN: I chose not to include a scene with Carol telling Daryl about the girls, because I already wrote a fic about Carol doing just that. It's called “Fine Again” if you haven't read it and want to check it out.


End file.
